Each externship runs for 8 weeks (320 hours) during June and July. After attending the two-week academic seminar, the externs work full time for their firms for the remaining six weeks. They receive 6 academic credits for this course of study and therefore, according to American Bar Association Guidelines, they cannot receive any monetary compensation for their work in the firm. Pace externs are entirely self-funded and are responsible for their own air and ground transportation as well as their housing, food, and other related costs. Suggestions and assistance in locating appropriate housing are, however, greatly appreciated by the students.

Each extern must complete one significant piece of legal writing during the internship, based on the work assigned by the student’s field supervisor. (This work should not take the form of a separate research paper, but rather grow out of the naturally occurring work of the law firm during the eight weeks of the externship.) Externs are also required to complete a daily work journal.

Each extern is assigned a field supervisor(s) within the firm who provides the student with adequate supervision and meaningful learning opportunities, which might include legal research, the preparation of legal memoranda or documents, attendance at court or arbitral proceedings, meetings with clients and/or members of the profession, or other work that the supervisor considers significant. The field supervisor’s assessment of the extern’s performance is heavily considered, along with the quality of the extern’s written submissions, in assigning the externship grade at the end of the program.